Communication

Eurosif March 2013 Newsletter

04 March 2013

Eurosif March 2013 Newsletter

n this issue: Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) - Transparency Code V. 3-0 - Call for action: short survey on non financial corporate reporting

Eurosif Update

New European SRI Transparency code V- 3.0 released on February 18. Eurosif and the national SIFs have launched a new, more user-friendly version of the European SRI Transparency Code, reflecting recent market developments and further responding to the success of the Code. The Code is a benchmark for transparency of European SRI funds and the release of the 3rd version of the code is a significant step towards improving access to information for retail investors. Interested parties should contact contact@eurosif.org. First international assessment of the sustainable investment landscape published by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA). The GSIA is a collaboration between Eurosif and the other six largest sustainable investment membership organisations (SIFs) in the world. The mission of GSIA is to deepen the impact and visibility of sustainable investment membership organisations at the global level. The Global Sustainable Investment Review 2012 is the first international assessment of the sustainable investment forums from Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia, Japan, and Africa. The report measures sustainable investments in all asset classes, from public equities and fixed income to hedge funds and microfinance. To download the report and learn more about the GSIA, visit the newly launched website at www.gsi-alliance.org Eurosif organises an investor workshop on environmental data as part of an EU funded project named CLEAR Info. Eurosif and its project partners will host an investor Workshop in London on Tuesday 12 March 2013 in Brussels. CLEAR Info is an EU funded project which will pilot the integration of parent company level information on the environmental compliance and performance of businesses. The aim of the upcoming workshop is to engage the investor community around the project, understand how investors make use of environmental data and how they could leverage the project work. The project is led by the Environment Agency for England and Wales and Eurosif is one of the partners involved in the project. More information on the project can be found here. Save the Date The Eurosif Annual Event will take place this year in Brussels on 24 September 2013. Member Affiliates and SIFs are cordially invited to attend. All required details will be provided in due course. Back to top

Eurosif Policy

On January 23, Eurosif participated to a roundtable organised by Tomorrow's Company and Mazard at the European Parliament hosted by MEP Richard Howitt. Eurosif made the case for active and responsible ownership by asset owners and managers and more widespread and efficient stewardship as a way to push CSR on companies' agendas and improve non-financial disclosure. On February 1, Eurosif participated to a one-day workshop on corporate governance organised by DG MARKT. Eurosif was invited to share its views on a number of topics covered in the Action Plan on Corporate Governance issued late 2012 by the European Commission. 

On February 15, Eurosif participated to a Finance Roundtable hosted by DG ENV of the European Commission and opened by Commissioner Potocnik. Eurosif focused on the responsibility of investors, in particular asset owners and the need to revisit the notion of fiduciary duty to ensure that it covers looking at ESG factors. For more information on key EU developments Eurosif is focusing on refer to the latest edition of the EU Insider, available exclusively for our Member Affiliates. Back to top

 

Eurosif Research

SIF News

FFS Institutional investors: a call for action. New initiatives coming up to encourage Italian institutional investors towards social responsibility: the Italian SIF has opened the call for entries for the first edition of the Sustainable Investor Award and just created a multi-stakeholder working group on engagement for pension funds. VDBO Dutch SIF announces themes for AGM questions. The VBDO (Dutch SIF) has sent letters to Dutch listed companies which explain its specific themes for 2013’s AGMs: Sustainable Remuneration, Tax Policy, Human Rights and Biodiversity. With this early notice, VBDO hopes to provide companies with ample time to prepare responses. Download the letter or Video UKSIF UKSIF is organising Ownership Day on Tuesday 12 March, a new national initiative to raise awareness of the benefits of active ownership strategies in investment management. In February, UKSIF co-signed a WWF-convened statement and The Climate Week Declaration, calling for decarbonisation targets in UK legislation and Government action on low carbon investment. FIR French SIF partnered with one of its member, the Employee Saving Plans Inter-Unions Committee, to launch a guide about SRI. In France, Employee Saving Plans currently represent 56 billions euros of which 23% are SRI. A web version of the guide is available on the French SIF homepage: www.frenchsif.org Back to top

Member Affiliate News

Creation of Mirova Natixis Asset Management launched last November an investment division dedicated to responsible investment. Mirova proposes a new responsible investing approach with a global offer organised in 4 pillars: listed equities, infrastructure*, impact investing, voting and engagement. Mirova aims to offer investors solutions that create value over the long term, while integrating sustainable development issues. Learn more here.
Etica Sgr celebrates its tenth birthday of funds “Responsible Values”. Ten years of responsible finance, investments that respect the environment and human rights, support microcredit project in Italy and active shareholding with the participation during the meetings of firms to vote, propose motions, ask question about social and environmental management. More here. 

CSSP: New Tool on yourSRI.com: Fund Comparison. yourSRI.com is one of the leading databases for responsible investing. In January yourSRI launched its new Fund Comparison Tool which enables a side-by-side comparison of multiple funds. This allows an even better overview for analyzing funds on yourSRI. More information here. 

Optimizing ESG Factors in Portfolio Construction Institutional investors wanting to integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in their investment strategies need the right tools to measure portfolio risk characteristics and performance. MSCI's BarraOne and Barra Portfolio Manager can provide this utility with Intangible Value Assessment (IVA) ratings from MSCI ESG Research. In this recent study, we examine the use of IVA ratings with the Barra Global Equity Model (GEM3) to build optimized portfolios with improved ESG ratings, while keeping risk, performance, country, industry, and style characteristics similar to conventional benchmarks, such as the MSCI World Index. Read the research paper and Register for the webinar on March 21, 2013. 

Sustainalytics webinars – Asian palm oil’s move into Africa. To meet growing global demand Asian palm oil producers are expanding operations into Africa. On March 12 and 14 panelists will discuss the potential environmental and social risks to companies and their investors and offer avenues for mitigation. Register today. 

 

 

 

 

Member Affiliate Research

"Reducing risk and driving business value”, published recently by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and Accenture, shows that 70% of companies believe that climate change has the potential to affect their revenue significantly, a risk which is intensified by a chasm between the sustainable business practices of multinational corporations and their suppliers. Read more here. Inrate Sustainability Matters: Reducing Food Waste - a Hidden Opportunity for Investors? One third of food produced worldwide gets lost or wasted before it reaches the end consumer. In this edition, we point out innovative approaches of investments in food waste reduction along the agricultural value chain. The publication also includes an interview with Dr. Bernd Schanzenbächer, a leader in Agricultural and Sustainability Investments. Download here.   Sovereign Debt Investing: ESG Framework and Applications AXA IM has built an innovative ESG country analysis framework that can be utilised by investors to meet their growing concerns about how to ensure ESG factors are considered in sovereign debt portfolios. Please click here to download the study. The latest industry sustainability report "Apple, Samsung & Co – interconnected with China" published by Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd, examines the sustainability and social responsibility of manufacturers and suppliers, along with the associated reputation risks, in the ICT sector and is available in English and German from media@sarasin.ch.

Events

Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance March 19, 2013, Geneva Event Website Free admission Forum Gi March 21- 22, 2013, Paris Event Website
ALFI Responsible Investing Conference May 15 – 20, 2013 Luxemburg Event Website Registration Eurosif Member Affiliates will receive discount

SRI Jobs For details of current SRI jobs please see the jobs section of the Eurosif website. For more information. To Keep up to date with Eurosif Activities please follow us on Twitter @Eurosif

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